In the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas

Jack Barga
Bridgette Barga
6328 Kormsby Ct.
Lewis Center, OH 43035 Case No.

and Judge:

Andrea Flynn
6 Manor Road
Pawcatuck, CT 06379

and

Izek Royer JURY DEMAND

Sunny Masterson
35 E. 12th Ave, Apt 3B
Columbus, OH 43201

and

Samantha Silverstein
Fern Silverstein
19 Jarrett Court
Morganville, NJ 07751

and

Staci Bella
Gracin Bella
1960 Hamilton Drive
Perrysburg, OH 43551

and

Carmella Foster
1355 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43201

and

Hawaii Asoba
1810 Cannon Drive
Columbus, OH 43210
and

Jeff Van Horne

Parker Van Horne
Jill Van Horne
1376 Shale Run Drive
Delaware, OH 43015

and

Amy Bishman
9609 Cliffview St. NW
Clinton, OH 44216

and

Guillermo Perez Ramos

1810 Cannon Drive
Columbus, OH 43210

and

Tim Roussell
9826 Foxwood Trail
Kirtland, OH 44094

and

Emily Clark
Ross Clark
Tiffany Clark
383 Barlow Road
Hudson, Ohio 44236

and

Jarrett Reeves
1810 Cannon Drive
Columbus, OH 43210

and

Arianna Sounders
1900 Cannon Drive,
Columbus, OH 43210
and

Andrew Drensky
Jill Drensky
Ken Drensky
7520 Arlington Avenue NW
Massillon, OH 44646

and

Melanie Sivy
5167 Bringham Drive
Brunswick, OH 44212

and

Nic Carozza
Linda Carozza
10165 Foxwood Drive
North Royalton, OH 44133

and

Sloane Hall
130 Lakewood Drive
Avon Lake, OH 44012

and

Kimberly Filby
Julia Filby
Steven Filby
1690 Lane Ave, Unit 350
Columbus, OH 43221

and

Siji Kille
Abigail Kille
7473 Scioto Chase Blvd
Powell, OH 43065
and

Slade Thaxton
115 Ballymore Court
Granville, OH 43023

and

Joseph Staffeld
Johnathan Staffeld
140 Longview Circle
North Lima, OH 44452

and

Olivia Feldhaus
8411 Lytle Trails Road
Waynesville, OH 45068

and

Helena Zaino
6 Wyndstone Way
Framingham, MA 01710

and

Monique Wildes
Jada Eskridge
2315 Murillo Court
Fairborn, OH 45324

and

Maureen Hall
130 Lakewood Drive
Avon Lake, OH 44012

and

Marla Miller
Noah Miller
5209 Schuette Drive
Powell, OH 43065
and
Ethan Coriell
5497 Dunsmere Drive
Galena, OH 43021

and

Lisa Lufkin
Matthew Lufkin
4148 W. 219th Street
Cleveland, OH 44126

and

Jessica Swyt
John Swyt
Shelby Swyt
20229 Woodcreek Blvd
Northville, MI 48167

and

Jennifer Nicolosi
Joseph Nicolosi
151 Kitdare Drive
Delaware, OH 43015

and

Marc Gagnon
8 Cabot Street
Bristol, CT 06010

v.

The Ohio State University

281 W. Lane Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
 Mass Tort Complaint

Students at The Ohio State University (“University”) should expect safe air in school

dormitories. No parent of a first-year college student should wonder whether his or her child will

be subjected to a sickening, mold-infested dorm.

Yet, on August 14, 2024, freshman students and their parents, who paid a premium for so-

called “Rate 1” Lawrence Tower accommodations, entered and began unloading their personal

belongings into a toxic time bomb. The excitement of the first semester of college – new school,

new friends, and academic aspirations – was soon replaced by consistent coughs, brain fog, and

other respiratory symptoms they could not easily shake. As the semester began, neither the

concerned students nor their parents could know the dubious history of the dorm property. Fifteen

years earlier, on March 2, 2009, a Holiday Inn Express Hotel was sold to Campus Partners to be

revamped into a dormitory for first-year students. University officials knew the renovations should

have taken two years, but were inexplicably completed in only two months. This feat apparently

raised no questions, and it did not stop the University from purchasing the property from Campus

Partners. The completed renovations were impressively fast, but they included little or no

remediation of previously known mold and asbestos issues at the property.

Mushrooms began growing out of Lawrence Tower walls and the mold issues became

undeniable. Students began to suspect what was making them sick: unsafe air. Once the wallpaper

began separating from walls to reveal black, yellow, and even purple mold. As many of the pictures

below show, the dorms were not “Rate 1” under any interpretation. They had become simply

dangerous. Questions arose about who at the University knew the mold problems – and for how

long.
 Ohio State first blamed the mold infestation on a singular plumbing leak and said that only

40 rooms were affected. Then, the University began to move students out of the building, claiming

Lawrence Tower was safe but were taking precautions. No-harm, no-foul was the attitude. But the

University fails to acknowledge students were knowingly placed in an unhealthy environment and

too many of them got sick.

Ohio State guarantees in its student handbook that its students have the right to sleep, read

and study, free from undue interference, unreasonable noise, and other distractions. Unfortunately,

Ohio State failed to live up to this guarantee and subjected its students to mold infested rooms.

Rather than take responsibility, Ohio State claims that the mold arose from a singular leak. But the

evidence will show a systematic failure by Ohio State officials entrusted to keep students safe from

mold. The widespread mold in Lawrence Tower was no secret – except for the families that trusted

the University.

And yet Ohio State knows mold can be a problem. Take, for example, the article authored

by Dr. Monica Kraft, an allergist and immunologist and clinical assistant professor at the

University: “Is mold in your home making you sick.” She writes: “You might smell a musty scent

but not know where to look. The basement? The bathroom? Or the crawl space? Those could be

good places to start looking for black or grayish spots.”1 The Ohio State professor continues, “Even

if you don’t have an illness that hampers your breathing and you aren’t allergic to mold, the mold

can trigger a cough, runny nose and watery eyes.” Id. “If you have persistent congestion and

coughing . . . wherever you’ve seen mold, but get better when you’re out of your home, that may

1
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be a sign mold is to blame.” Id. These students lived in the mold for an entire semester and reported

similar symptoms.

Some students had black mold growing on their HVAC unit. Like the picture below taken

by a student.

Others had black mold in their ceilings.

Some students watched as OSU covered up the mold.

Some students had black, yellow, and purple mold.

One student had mushrooms growing out of the wall.

 Facts Common to All Parties
1. Plaintiffs are various students at Defendant Ohio State University and parents of those
students. The students have standing for their health and property claims. The parents have
standing for their property claims.2
2. Defendant Ohio State University is a public university that is responsible for the safety and
wellbeing of its students.
3. In 2009, Ohio State purchased the building that became Lawrence Hall from Campus
Partners, which is a non-profit corporation working in the urban neighborhoods
surrounding Ohio State. Campus Partners purchased that building from Harper Hotels Inc.
4. Ohio State knew or should have known that at the time the building was sold to Campus
Partners, and subsequently to Ohio State, Ohio State was on notice that the building had
mold and asbestos.
5. Employees of Ohio State admitted that they were trying to cram two years’ worth of work
into renovating Lawrence Hall into six months. According to the Franklin County Auditor’s
site, those renovations may have only taken 2 months.

2
Plaintiffs have concurrently filed CSPA claims in Common Pleas Court as Franklin County Common Pleas has
standing over those claims.
 6. Since the beginning of the year various Plaintiff students have been feeling sick but did not
understand why they were feeling sick.
7. On November 13, 2024, ABC6 broke a story that freshman students living at Defendant
Ohio State’s Lawrence Hall were living in mold infested conditions. Some of those rooms
had mushrooms growing in the room.
8. Since November 13, 2024, various Plaintiffs have had mold testing done on various rooms
in the building. The findings have been extraordinary. Exhibit A.
9. During the testing, it was exposed that black, yellow, and even purple mold was growing
behind the wallpaper.
10. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Institute of Medicine of
the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma &
Immunology (AAAAI), and the World Health Organization (WHO) all agree that living or
working in a building with mold-damaged building materials increases health risks to its
occupants.3
11. The National Institutes of Health point to cognitive issues from extended exposure to mold
including short-term memory loss, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision, and loss of
other cognitive function. “Studies have also shown an association between prolonged mold
exposure and increased levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in both children and
adults.”
12. Mold is a fungus that reproduces by creating spores or microscopic cells. The spores and
cells generate in large numbers and in chains that easily disperse into the air. Mold spores
are generally invisible to the human eye. If adequate moisture is present when a mold spore
lands on a suitable carbon containing food source, such as the paper on drywall, furniture,
clothing, and furnishings, it begins to grow. Mold can grow with liquid water and even
simply due to the presence of high relative humidity in the air.
13. When certain species of mold grow and process nutrients, they produce chemicals called
mycotoxins and excretory chemicals. Mycotoxins are known to be used as chemicals in
biological warfare. These microscopic microbes and their chemistries can be toxic to human

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 cells and to cause immune and other organ inflammation, injury, and disease. Mycotoxins
attack the nervous, respiratory, immune, and muscular systems and can enter the body
either via ingestion, inhalation or direct skin contact and can lodge in the digestive tract,
lungs, or brain.
14. Several mold genera, including Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Stachybotrys,
produce a wide variety of mycotoxins that are poisonous or toxic to virtually all persons who
encounter them. Apart from being toxic, exposures to the microbes and chemistries are
known to cause inflammation and immune system injury or dysfunction. Often, due to the
latency periods between exposure and disease, one may be harmfully exposed and
contacted, but the symptoms and disease may not be apparent for years. Medical
monitoring is essential to deal with the effects of the chemical and microbial assault.
15. Initial symptoms of mold and microbe exposure can include upper respiratory infections,
coughs, sore throats, headaches, nausea, fibromyalgia, fatigue, hemorrhaging, convulsions,
skin irritation, cancer, and organ and tissue damage including liver, kidney, neurological and
immunologic disease.
16. For all these reasons, water damage and mold must be immediately and properly
remediated. At a minimum, proper remediation requires the removal of the water damage
and mold source. In general, the process includes (i) identification of the mold source;
(ii) containment of the affected area; (iii) removal of the mold and contaminated materials
under containment; (iii) cleaning the contaminated area; and (iv) clearance testing.
Consumer Sales Practices Act Violations Under R.C. 1345.02 and R.C.
1345.03.

17. Plaintiffs incorporate the above paragraphs.

18. Plaintiffs are students and parents who entered a contract for educational services with
Defendant.
19. That contract for educational services included a requirement by Defendant that the
student-Plaintiffs live on-campus in dorms owned by the Defendant for their Freshman
year.
20. Part of that consumer transaction included the Defendant providing safe dorms for the
students to use during their contract for educational services for their freshman year.
21. The contract for educational services includes a consumer transaction when maintenance
came to fix the mold issues, moisture issues, and other issues that led to the growth of mold.
22. A person includes Plaintiffs.
23. Ohio State University is a supplier.
24. Plaintiffs engaged in a consumer transaction with Ohio State University for education that
included a place to live.
25. Defendant Ohio State University is a supplier of student services which include education,
dormitories, and other services necessary to freshman students.
26. Defendant Ohio State University is a supplier of student services to a student consumer in
a consumer transaction as defined under R.C. 1345.01.
27. As such, Ohio State is not the typical landlord as its requirement to live on campus does not
allow for the typical arms-length transaction that landlord-tenant transactions occur.
28. Because Ohio State requires its freshman to live on campus, Ohio State knew that the
consumer transaction was substantially one-sided in favor of the supplier.
29. Further, each individual time that maintenance was supposed to fix the moisture, mold, and
other water damage related issue is a separate transaction.
30. Thus, the transactions fall under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (“OCSPA”.)
31. Ohio State violated the OCSPA by falsely representing that Lawrence Hall was safe upon
move-in.
32. Ohio State violated the OCSPA by falsely representing that Lawrence Hall was safe after
each individual repair was completed at Lawrence Hall.
33. Ohio state violated the OCSPA by concealing the mold, which is an unfair and deceptive
act, which is a fact material to the transaction involving the Plaintiffs being required to live
on campus as a part of the transaction with Ohio State.
34. Ohio State knew they made a false representation because Ohio State knew that the building
had both mold and asbestos and was unsafe for students to live in the residential premises.
35. Ohio State intended to mislead the students and parents that Lawrence Hall was safe,
otherwise the students and parents never would have agreed to pay for and live in Lawrence
Hall.
36. Further, Plaintiffs paid a premium for “Rate 1” rooms which for the year of 2024-2025 were
as follows:
a. Rate 1 - $5,045.00 per semester
b. Rate 2 - $4,203.00
c. Rate 2A - $4,069.00
d. Rate 3 - $3,929.00
37. Defendant made other various promises in connection with the consumer transaction that
led Plaintiffs to believe Lawrence Hall, a Rate 1 dorm, was safer and newer.
38. Each of these promises led Plaintiffs to be unfairly and deceptively led to live in Lawrence
Tower.
39. Plaintiffs request economic damages of more than $1 ,000 per Plaintiff but which cannot be
stated in specificity and non-economic damages of the statutory maximum, $5,000 per
Plaintiff.
PRAYER
40. Plaintiff pray that Defendants be cited to appear and answer herein, and that upon final
hearing of the cause, judgment be entered for Plaintiff against Defendants for damages in
an amount within the jurisdictional limits of the Court, together with prejudgment interest
at the maximum rate allowed by law, post-judgment interest at the legal rate, court costs,
attorneys’ fees, and such other and further relief to which Plaintiff may be entitled at law or
in equity.

41. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs request economic damages of more than $1 ,000 per Plaintiff but
which cannot be stated in specificity and non-economic damages of the statutory maximum,
$5,000 per Plaintiff.

JURY DEMAND

Plaintiffs demand a trial by jury.

/s/ Jedidiah I. Bressman
Jedidiah I. Bressman (0096637)
David A. Bressman (0047128)
Law Office of David A. Bressman
2727 Tuller Parkway, Suite 100
Dublin, OH 43017
(614)538-1116
Fax: (614)761-8399
[email protected]
[email protected]
Attorneys for Plaintiffs

/s/ Kristina S. Baehr

KRISTINA S. BAEHR (Pro Hac Vice Application
Pending)
TX State Bar No. 24080780
JUST WELL LAW, PLLC
2606 W 8th St, Unit 2
Austin, TX 78703
Telephone: (512) 693-8029
Email: [email protected]
Attorney for Plaintiffs